"Clinton" Fire on the Santa Rosa Plateau

Here we go again. A sobering reminder that fire season in California is ever present. We were driving back from work southbound on I-15 around 3:40pm on Wednesday, Sept. 1st near Lake Elsinore, when we heard on the radio of an 80-acre fire on the Santa Rosa Plateau that had shut down Clinton Keith Road in Murrieta. Crap (and other choice epithets). No way. That's the main, at least wholly paved, way for us to get home.


My sole concern at that moment was for our pooch, Hana. I didn't care if our house burned down, as long as Hana was safe. Anyways, we hoped for the best, and drove up Clinton Keith Road to the road block at Bear Creek. We spoke to a lady there who informed us that the fire was about 20% contained and that it was burning in the vicinity of the visitor center in a southwesterly direction away from La Cresta, so that was a good thing. However, as the fire was also burning along the roadside, no one, including residents, would be allowed beyond that point for at least the next two hours. 


Feeling relieved that Hana would be ok, we headed out to Albertson's supermarket about a mile down the road and hung out there for a couple hours until we saw a CDF water truck pull into the parking lot. Gil talked to the fire fighters from that truck and they told him that residents were now allowed to go back into La Cresta via police escort. 


We drove back up Clinton Keith and parked in queue with the line of cars trying to get into the Plateau. The going was slow, as only one lane was open, but we finally made it back home later in the evening. Not too bad, all things considered.


Link to the fire incident page on Riverside County Fire Department's website: http://tcfireweb.co.riverside.ca.us/firepio/process?action=viewIncidentHtml&id=26516

Here's footage of the fire from Valley News Network:





I had a Flip Video on me, so took the following footage as we trailed our CHP escort up the road. My voice is pretty hoarse (I almost sound like a dude) as I'm into my 3rd week of an allergy-induced cough/near laryngitis. But at least I can still talk! (much to Gilbert's chagrin, heh, heh...)

   
The fire was contained by late afternoon the next day and total acreage burned revised down to 65 acres. Not sure how the visitor center has fared, but the charred hillsides along Clinton Keith Road are a sad sight to see. We were just out hiking behind the visitor center last Sunday along Waterline Road and I'm really anxious to know if any portion of that trail was burned. There were some wonderful blooms & fruiting shrubs along there, including California Goldenrod, Southern Honeysuckle,  Narrowleaf Milkweed, Bristly Bird's Beak, California Aster, and Hollyleaf Redberry. At this time, cause of the fire is still under investigation.


9/6/10 POSTSCRIPT:
A ranger told us (unofficially) that the fire was caused by one of the contractors working on the renovation behind the Visitor Center. All it takes is a backhoe or tractor hitting some rock to ignite a spark onto tinder-dry brush. The only trail closures were the portion of the Granite Loop Trail behind the Visitor Center and Cole Canyon Trail. The bulk of Granite Loop Trail, Waterline Road, and Vista Grande Trail were unaffected. 

9/6/10 Point of origin of the fire behind the visitor center. 

9/6/10 Cal Fire back on scene, probably to complete the investigation into the cause of the fire. 

9/6/10 Trail closure at Granite Loop Trail.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 It was a steep and hot trail to begin with, but look at it now. Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

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9/6/10 Gil checking out the burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area as seen along Clinton Keith Road.

SMILE - You're on the Critter Cam!

Last year, Gil bought an outdoor camera with a motion sensor to set up in the orchard after his favorite Haas avocado tree and my veggie garden were being ravaged by some unknown critter or critters. Maybe the camera was not correctly positioned, but we never did manage to get a shot of the offending ravager back then (camera appeared to be shooting blanks, literally). So, we put that camera away in the garage for awhile and almost forgot about it, until about a month ago. I had some zucchini, eggplants, tomatillos, and assorted peppers growing nicely in a raised bed since spring when, over the course of less than a week around mid-July, all the leaves, flowers,  and budding fruits of EVERY SINGLE plant was consumed. This, despite the fact that I had chicken wire surrounding all of my raised beds. There was no way the rabbits could be jumping over, so what the hell could it be? I was soooooooo mad!! Anyways, we decided to set up the critter cam again and this time around, we got him! Heh, heh...the camera never lies:

As you can see, this very, very bad squirrel was digging away under the planter box (since he couldn't get through the mesh wire fencing) and would tunnel up through the other side to reach the goodies. 

Back again, later in the afternoon for round two.

A squirrel's work is never done. Not to be outwitted, Gil eventually ended up pouring mortar around the base of the planter to fortify it against this industrious little digger. It ain't pretty, but it's worked so far. 

With the squirrel now unmasked and temporarily deterred, we moved the camera over to our next unsolved mystery: the partially gnawed fruits on our Scarlet Robe peach tree. I was inclined to think it was the work of more squirrels. But, after about 3 days and a couple hundred shots from the critter cam, we had an interesting revelation about what goes on after dark around the grounds. First and foremost, we discovered that there's a non-stop bunnypalooza in the orchard that carries on from dusk till dawn. Looking at the time stamps on all the pictures, it is quite clear that rabbits don't sleep at night, AT ALL! 

These shots indicate that the bunnies are out in force, every hour on the hour, from 8:00pm to 8:00am:

After an all-nighter, still bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 8:02am.

Well, clearly, the rabbits were grazing on the fruits that had fallen on the ground and on some of the lower leaves of the peach tree. They certainly weren't climbing like monkeys or jumping like Kangaroos to gnaw on the fruits in the upper branches. On closer scrutiny of some of the photos, however, we believe we found the culprit.

If you look closely, you can see what looks like a rat on the irrigation tubing near the base of the peach tree. 

There's the rat-like critter scuttling past the base of the peach tree again.

And there he goes, up into the peach tree (see tell-tale naked tail).

Case solved! The rat did it. We ended up picking all the damaged fruit and just leaving them on the ground for the rodents, rabbits, and whatnot to eat at will. This worked to distract these guys from rest of the fruits on the tree until we were able to harvest the remaining crop.

In the mix were some incidental/accidental shots of some other critters:

Coyote!

Another coyote, upper right.

Ok, this guy (to left of peach tree) does not look like a rat rat. That tail makes me think of a Kangaroo rat, and the hind legs look kinda longish. But then again, the picture is not clear enough to confirm the ID.

So hard to see, but there's the backside of that Kangaroo rat-like rodent (look to the left of the head of the bunny in the forefront). That tail just looks like it has that crest of longer hairs at the end, which could be indicative.

In the meantime, we've reset the camera to a trail near a chaparral stand at the front of the property to see what passes by. Last Monday, there was a notice taped to our mailbox  warning that a female mountain lion and two cubs were spotted several times in the vicinity of our property. Just gotta use common sense and take the normal precautions. Would be so awesome if they sauntered past our critter cam for a cameo!

Well I'll be a Flittin' Butterfly...and other cool critters

Summer has been somewhat AWOL in Southern California, as our temps have been on average about 5-10 degrees below the norm these past few weeks. Not complaining, but just wondering what the hey is going on with our weather. 

Anyhoo, work and other matters have been diverting me from the blogosphere, so I haven't had much time to check out my fav blogs or to post anything new recently. I miss doing that, and will try to catch up this weekend. 

In the meantime, I've made it a habit now to lug my camera with me whenever I'm in the garden, whether watering, weeding, hoeing or just hanging out. Of late I've noticed a lot of butterflies, bugs and other fascinating but flighty creatures around the grounds. They simply don't wait around for you to run into the house, find your camera, run back, and take their picture, so it's best to be armed and ready to shoot at all times. 

So here are some of those serendipitous shots, including a few taken earlier in the spring. And, as I've said many times before, I'm no lepidopterist. I attempt to ID the butterflies by crosschecking with several field guides (Kaufman's, Audubon, etc.), but if I'm off the mark and someone knows better, please correct me! I'll continue adding new butterfly photos to this post as I take them.

7/31/10 Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) on Apple Mint blossoms.

8/22/10 American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) on Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii).

7/31/10 Northern White Skipper (Heliopetes ericetorum), reposing on the garden hose.

7/31/10 Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon). 

5/2/10 Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon).

8/1/10 Female Checkered White (Pontia protodice) on Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

8/1/10 Male Checkered White (Pontia protodice) on Sticky Cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa).

7/31/10 Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) on Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii).

5/31/10 Hedgerow Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium) on California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum).

8/22/10 Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) on Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii).

5/8/10 Sara Orangetip (Anthocharis sara). 

7/31/10 Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) on blossoms of Italian Oregano.

3/20/10 Bramble Green Hairstreak (Callophyrs dumetorum) on San Diego Viguiera (Viguiera laciniata). Reposted from my 3/21/10 blog entry http://camissonia.blogspot.com/2010/03/well-ill-be-bramble-green-hairstreak.html

7/31/10 Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) on Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii).

8/13/10 Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) on Longstem Buckwheat (Eriogonum elongatum).

8/13/10 And what in tarnation is this? Looks like a sphinx moth gone wild. It's not in any of my field guides, so will have to search online for an ID. Sipping nectar from the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii). 

Here it is again. This guy is definitely in the realm of wtfery. Hummingbird/wasp/sphinx moth?

POSTSCRIPT: 8/15/10 Thanks to Rosie ( http://leavesnbloom.blogspot.com/ ), I've identified this bee-moth thingy as the Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis). 

From an article on the U.S. Forest Service's website:  http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/hummingbird_moth.shtml  

"These day-flying moths are widespread in North America. In the Old World, there are several species of hummingbird moths. Some of these species are closely related and all belong to the same genus, Hemaris. The British prefer to call them Bee Hawk-Moths. There are four species of hummingbird moths in North America. The most familiar ones are the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) and the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe). They are both widespread throughout North America, with the former perhaps being more abundant in the west and the latter in the east. Like the majority of moths and butterflies, the adult hummingbird moths feed on nectar from a variety of flowers." 

8/7/10 Tarantula (Aphonopelmus reversum), scuttling across the brick pavers on our back patio. 

8/1/10 Tarantula Hawk? If it is indeed one of those Freddy Kruegers of the wasp kingdom, it looks like a young'un. If you don't know what they do to tarantulas, go to Wiki for the gruesome details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk 

7/31/10 A lovely damselfly, perched on some dry herbage near the pond. 

8/7/10 Female Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). 

8/7/10 Hummingbird feeding on Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii). We primarily have Black-Chinned Hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri) around here.

8/7/10 Hummingbird perched on a dried Clarkia stem (similar to the one that almost poked my eye out).